June C – Season of Solemnities. Living Seasons of Change explores the transformation of our lives through understanding our beliefs, truth, and the mystery of the Trinity, the Body and Blood of Jesus [Corpus Christi], and ties with the Baptism of John the Baptist.
Monsignor David LeSieur and Patti Brunner discusses why the Church has set aside time, after the celebration of Pentecost, the “birthday” of the Christian Church, to draw attention to important, yet difficult to comprehend, teachings. Trinity Sunday, particularly the deepest of all mysteries, is always right after Pentecost. It’s followed by the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, and on June 24th we have the Birth of John the Baptist. Continue reading for the outline directed by the Lord for this episode and for the script of the radio show originally aired June 2007 for Year C of the liturgical year and references. [Audio: June Year C Season of Solemnities audio ]
The following italics are the instructions the Lord gave [private revelation] to prepare the script for this radio show production:
My child, the river flows and sometimes ‘floods’ when too much flows at once. Certainly flooding has its benefits, it nourishes the land, it removes blocks to the flows but it can also rip the buildings away whose foundations are not solid. The teachings of Jesus are solid. I have allowed by church to be built in this way: understanding, study by the intellect, experience by the emotion and senses. What the “senses fail to fathom” are called mysteries yet these were ‘taught’ by Jesus and accepted by faith. The Church has set aside time after the celebration of Pentecost, the “birthday” of Christian Churches, so to draw attention to these important yet difficult to comprehend teachings.
Lastly—the celebration of the birth of John; John was Spirit-filled through the gift of the Father. His gift points to the gifts received by all who are baptized with the Spirit after the passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. His gift, which was also given to the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and so forth, was the Word of God, come down from heaven, spoken by the Spirit to share the Word of the Father.
John’s gift was illumined, magnified by the Light come into the world and thus the people were drawn to him as truth come forth with the cloak of the Father’s glory.
The feast of the Body and Blood—also known as Corpus Christi—remind the people that I Am the bread, the cup transformed. I am the living sacrifice.
And the first—the Trinity—how I long to be one (with the Church) as the Father and the Spirit and the Son are one. It shall happen. People fool themselves when they accept God the Father and reject Jesus or the power/dunamis/ the Spirit. The Church has listened to my prophets; you call them saints. They speak truth to and “into” the body of Christ/the Church yet just as John suffered for truth, so does my Church—receiving the sternest treatment by fellow Christians. They shall persist—truth shall persist.
Use these words for your outline.
Script for Season of Solemnities
Patti Welcome to Living Seasons of Change. I’m Patti Brunner. Today, Monsignor David LeSieur and I will explore why the Church has set aside time, after the celebration of Pentecost, the “birthday” of the Christian Church, to draw attention to important, yet difficult to comprehend, teachings. Our listeners can find this season’s readings and the references from our show today at PatriarchMinistries.com. Welcome Monsignor!
Msgr. David LeSieur Thank you, Patti, it’s good to be here. Trinity Sunday, particularly the deepest of all mysteries, is always right after Pentecost. It’s followed by the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ[i], and on June 24th we have the Birth of John the Baptist.
Patti The Church has just celebrated Easter, the Ascension, and Pentecost, all very visual feasts, and then we’ve got these things that are so hard to see, especially the Most Holy Trinity. The Solemnity of The Body and Blood of Christ is also called Corpus Christi.
Msgr. David LeSieur Yes, that is the Latin translation. The name was changed in 1970.
Patti This spring we are “flooded” with the basic tenets of our faith: The passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus; the coming of the Holy Spirit; honoring the three persons in One God; celebrating the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist; and the miracle birth of John the Baptist. This “flood” of celebrations helps our understanding as we study them by the intellect; we experience them with our emotion and our senses. And what the “senses fail to fathom” are called mysteries yet these truths, these dogmas, were ‘revealed’ by Jesus and we accept them by faith. It’s quite a flood!
Msgr. David LeSieur Certainly flooding has its benefits, it nourishes the land, it removes blocks to the flows but it can also rip the buildings away whose foundations are not solid. The teachings of Jesus are solid and stand forever.
Patti I was just thinking, how does the birth of John fit in? John’s birth to Elizabeth, who was barren, is a miracle. In the beginning of the Gospel of Luke[ii], we find that his own father, Zechariah, had trouble accepting this miracle. Yet, eventually, he knew it was real because John was born! Sometimes, seeing is believing.
Msgr. David LeSieur Celebrating John’s birth during this season, in a way, begins the cycle over again. We go all though out the year: Easter, Pentecost, Trinity, Body & Blood of Christ, then the Birth of John the Baptist. He is the precursor, or forerunner, the “announcer” of Jesus, so, we kind of start the cycle over again. The Birth of John the Baptist is always celebrated on the 24th of June, which is right at 6 months before the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25. Because of the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke, we have always considered John about 6 months older than Jesus. I think it is very interesting that at that point in June, which is right after the summer solstice, the days start getting shorter. John is famous for saying, “I have to decrease.”
Patti That’s right! After the winter solstice and the birth of Jesus, the daylight gets longer. By choosing these dates, the Church points out that Jesus is the Light of the world! The readings for Trinity Sunday include Proverbs, Romans and John. Proverbs talks about Wisdom. Who is Wisdom? Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
Msgr. David LeSieur Theologians have identified both as Wisdom. Mary, too, is often associated as the seat of wisdom. Wisdom does seem to be a personage based on passages like this. In Istanbul there is one of antiquity’s most beautiful Christian churches, a great church named Hagia Sophia[iii] ,which means Holy Wisdom, a name attributed to Christ by theologians of the 4th century. It is dedicated to the concept of wisdom as found in scripture. I’ve seen that passage from Proverbs 8[iv] some times in relation to Jesus, but the Church may be wanting us to relate it to the Spirit. The second reading is from Romans[v], that the “love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Patti Since it is Trinity Sunday, how about God the Father? Do we have a reading from creation?
Msgr. David LeSieur Proverbs 8 does mention, “From old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains or springs of water”. This takes us to before creation; and wisdom has always existed. “Before the mountains were settled into place; before the hills were brought forth.” And so on. Then it says “I was his delight, playing before him all the while”, “And I found delight in the human race.”
Patti The doctrine of the Trinity in these readings didn’t jump out at me, at first. But then I’m no great Theologian.
Msgr. David LeSieur Well, no theologian, yet, has been able to figure out the Trinity.
Patti Well maybe we shouldn’t try to figure it out on our show, [giggle]. If it is impossible! It’s like the song, “what the senses fail to fathom”
Msgr. David LeSieur Yeah, right, Tantum Ergo. “Let us grasp through faith’s consent.” There is a story about St. Augustine[vi], it says that one day he was walking along the seashore, pondering the mystery of the Trinity, the three divine persons, Father, Son, and holy Ghost, in one God. He wrote a book, a great work on the Trinity called “De Trinitate” written in Latin. Anyway, he was walking along the beach one day, pondering and thinking about the Trinity, and he met this little child digging in the sand with a sea shell. And he asked the little boy “what are you doing?” The little boy said, “I’m digging a hole in the sand and I’m going to put the ocean in that hole”. And Augustine said, “You can’t; it won’t fit.” And the child said, “You’ll never plumb the depths of the Trinity either!” God let him know that he would never figure it all out.
Patti Brunner That legend, which comes to us from the Middle Ages, in a variety of versions, was used by Pope Benedict XVI when he designed his papal coat of arms. He used a third of his shield for Augustine’s sea shell.
Msgr. David LeSieur Someone once described it to me that a the mystery is not something hazy, shadowy or foggy; it’s just big. It’s just too big for us to grasp. It’s like not being able to see the forest for the trees. The forest is huge. And you can’t grasp it and God is the same way. We’ll never fully understand God; even in heaven.
Patti Brunner We’ll never fully understand the Triune God—complete attributes of the three Divine persons—all in all. Jesus told us his longing to be one with the Church as the Father and the Spirit and the Son are one.[vii] And so it shall happen. We hear that promise in John’s Gospel chapter 17th on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Now, there is also a scripture where Jesus says “where the Father is, there I am” “when you see me, you see the Father” Now to me that’s a little more “Trinitarian” than the scriptures we have on Trinity Sunday where Jesus promises the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Msgr. David LeSieur That scripture is John 14[viii]. “Phillip if you have seen me you have seen the Father.”
Patti Brunner Sounds like Phillip was into “seeing is believing” kind of like Zechariah. Jesus promised Phillip that someday he would realize the truth[ix] that Jesus is in His Father and we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us.
Msgr. David LeSieur One image I was given years ago, is this: There are two concepts of the Trinity in ancient literature. One is the Latin concept, or the western concept; and the term is “circum incessio” which means “sitting around”. So you have the Trinity sitting in perfect peace and serenity for all eternity. But the Greek concept, which is much more dynamic, is called “parakerises” which means “dancing around”. The concept there is that the Trinity is in constant motion; it dances. It’s as if the Trinity is having a wonderful party, just the three of them, from all eternity. They love each other perfectly, they have perfect union, and they dance around; they enjoy one another’s company. And at one point the Father said, “Let’s invite someone to our party.” And they do. They invite us.
Patti. Oh! That is beautiful!
Msgr. David LeSieur It’s like they said, “this is too good not to share with somebody, this love that we have, this perfection.” So, God said, “I know what to do” and he created man and woman. Everything was great until they sinned and had to leave the party.
Patti. I see, they no longer had that proper “garment” to stay at the party, the bridegroom’s party.
Msgr. David LeSieur I guess you might say that; the “white garment”, which we put on at baptism. They lost that, they lost their innocence. And in essence, they told God, “We don’t want to be here anymore. Then they had to hide and so on. And then the Son said, “What are we going to do?” And the Father said, “Well, you are going to go down there and get them. You’re going to bring them back! And Jesus said, “How am I going to do that?” And the Father said, “You’ll see.”
So Jesus became human, and he invited us back to the party, the wedding feast. The Spirit was also sent to issue the invitation through us. We, who have been re-invited to the party, who have experienced it; we love it and want other people to come, too. The Son, now back with the Father, says, “You send the invitations out now. You do it, I’ll help you; I’ll send my Spirit to help you.” So our work, basically as missionaries, is to issue the invitation to the party of the kingdom.
Patti What fun! It saddens me, though, when I think of the various groups who accept God the Creator but reject Jesus or the power of the Holy Spirit. People cannot comprehend the Trinity and so fool themselves by rejecting its concept.
Msgr. David LeSieur Well, they probably just haven’t been given the gift of faith. You know faith is a gift and not everyone has it. If they believed in the Trinity and then denied it, that would be one thing, but not to have received the gift of faith in the Trinity is different. Like in the Acts of the Apostles, in chapter 19[x], Paul has been talking to some group who have been baptized by John’s baptism and they haven’t even heard of the Holy Spirit. They ask, “What’s the holy Spirit?” Then, they were baptized in the name of Jesus, Paul laid hands on them and the Spirit came on them, right then and there, and they spoke in tongues and prophesized. Patti, how did you receive the gift of tongues? Where you prayed over specifically for that gift? Or did it just come one day?
Patti. In May 1997, Rick and I visited a charismatic prayer group at St. Vincent de Paul Church and we heard people praying in Tongues and witnessed the gift of Prophecy for the first time, but we didn’t know what it was. A few weeks later, in June, we attended a seminar at St. Vincent’s.
Msgr. David LeSieur You mean a Life in the Spirit Seminar?
Patti Brunner No, that came later. This was on the Holy Spirit in the Bible. The speaker was Dennis Holt and his wife Janet, from Pocahontas. We were good friends withthe Holts in high school; he was even in our wedding. They spent the night with us and witnessed their life over the last 25 years to us as we got caught up. Dennis had written a book on the Kingdom of God and had audio tapes to help you receive your “prayer language”, the gift of Tongues. I studied the book and the scripture references and listened to the tapes, “Why Speak in Other Tongues?” But I had a problem. Every time I listened to the tapes I would fall asleep! I really wanted to receive the gift of Tongues so I ended up taking the cassette player and walking around Wal-Mart listening to it. Before I listened to the final tape of the series, I fasted in anticipation of asking the Lord for that gift. I went into my room, listened to the final tape and asked God for the gift and He gave it! And that’s the way it happened for me. I’ve prayed for others and some received their prayer language, too. For me, it is a very intimate thing.
Msgr. David LeSieur It is a gift. Belief in the Trinity is a gift too.
Patti And part of it is expecting.
Msgr. David LeSieur Yes, we call it expectant faith!
Patti Brunner Inviting, surrendering, and expecting—and just knowing that it is possible.
Msgr. David LeSieur People who don’t believe in, let’s say, Christ, the Trinity, the Christian faith. Maybe they are atheistic, agnostic, maybe they are Hindu, Buddhist, whatever. If they have never heard about it, then you wouldn’t expect them to believe in it. Not if it has never been preached to them, or maybe they have only heard about it objectively.
Patti Romans chapter 10 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.”[xi]
Msgr. David LeSieur That’s right, and if they haven’t heard it, haven’t heard it preached, then they wouldn’t be expected to have faith in it. But I guess if they have heard it they might say, “Well, that’s nice but I don’t need that.” So many people don’t believe in God today.
Patti I have heard stories about people who set out to prove that God does not exist or that Jesus does not exist or that the Eucharist is not real and when they start getting into it, studying to prove the opposite, then they have this conversion experience because they are exposed to the truth.
Msgr. David LeSieur That’s right. They get exposed to it, rub shoulders with the truth. That’s all God needs, you know.
Patti Brunner For centuries the Church has listened to God’s prophets; a lot of them we call saints. They speak truth “into” the body of Christ, into the Church. However, just as John suffered for speaking truth, so does the Church—sometimes receiving the sternest treatment by fellow Christians. But as long as we persist—truth shall persist.
Msgr. David LeSieur We have to teach our children so that the next generation receives that truth.
[Break]
Patti Brunner Welcome back, this is Living Seasons of Change. I’m Patti Brunner and I’m speaking with Msgr. David LeSieur, a priest of the diocese of Little Rock.
Msgr. David LeSieur The readings for the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, center on the Genesis priest Melchizedek, the 1st Corinthians’ account of the Last Supper and on the Gospel account of the feeding of the 5,000 with the five loaves and the two fish.
Patti Monsignor, I have noticed people of an age of maturity have a simple faith. They don’t understand it but they accept it as truth. They might not have a clue to what the Scripture says, they might not have a clue to what the Catechism says, but they just accept it, they believe it, because Sr. Mary Frances Jo told them it was true—so, it’s true.
Msgr. David LeSieur They have that child-like simple faith, of accepting. But others want knowledge and facts. It’s so available to us.
Patti Our intellect shoves the simple faith to the corner, and we say “prove it”. And even in our church you hear the explanations of how this miracle of feeding the 5,000 could have happened.
Msgr. David LeSieur I don’t think that’s necessary. I don’t know how that miracle of the feeding with the loaves and the fish happened. I just know Jesus fed this many people and had twelve baskets left over. There are “explanations” for that miracle; like everybody had a little bread and they shared it with each other. To me that defeats the whole point of the passage. We don’t have to explain how this miracle happened. We look instead to why it happened. God provided for the people no matter the obstacle.
Patti. If it had been a natural explanation as some have suggested, then why did all those people came out of the woodwork seeking also to be fed?
Msgr. David LeSieur They wouldn’t have been looking for Jesus; they would have been looking for the people with the food. It would not have been an amazing thing to them. That’s a good point.
Patti. I went to a retreat at Subiaco that Fr. Rick Thomas[xii] gave. He has a ministry to the poor in Juarez and El Paso called The Lord’s Ranch. He talked about how often they have multiplication of food. For instance, they had food for 160 people and 300 showed up and they had enough food. And they had enough to send sacks of food home with the people plus enough to feed two orphanages. The Lord is good about doing that for that particular ministry. So we have modern day miracles that point to same gift as the multiplication of loaves and fish. I also read that Father Rick gave out about $6,000 of food a week but he does not do fund-raising, and never took up a collection at his masses. Now that is obviously a miracle, too.
Msgr. David LeSieur Yes. During the year of the Eucharist we had a procession. We also had one for the school children in the neighborhood. We walked around the block with the Monstrance. I think that is coming back more now, too, as a way of expressing our devotion to the Eucharist in a public way.
Patti During the year of the Eucharist our bishop encouraged us all to have processions. For our Hispanic community, the procession is a very cultural event for them. And in some ethic communities in the north they have very public Eucharistic processions. Here in the south, I don’t remember any, as a kid growing up. I know we would go out to the Grotto, and do May crowning, but as far as the Eucharist, I don’t remember us ever taking Jesus out of the building.
Msgr. David LeSieur We might have done it when I was a child. I remember the canopy. It had a four poster cover. And I know we used it to walk around inside the church.
Patti That is so cool! We are a church with a rich tradition of ritual. At retreats with the young people, it is very special to have a procession to bring Jesus in for adoration from a tabernacle to an altar for exposition. So they can give homage. We have them light candles to light the way to greet Jesus, like the wise virgins welcoming the bridegroom, or to kneel as Jesus, carried through the crowd, comes into the room. It just builds that awareness of God. We identify the presence of God in the sacramental movements. Celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi reminds the people that the bread is now Jesus, the cup transformed, the living sacrifice. And that the Eucharist is the true Body and Blood of our Lord.
Msgr. David LeSieur I was at a Eucharistic Youth 2000 conference, in the not too distant past, and we were in a gym but we had Eucharistic exposition and there must have been 250 kids there. This was at night. The gym was lit by candles and the presiding priest invited us all to kneel, as he walked around the gym with the monstrance. And he said, “As I walk by, reach out and touch the cloak that I am wearing, because I am carrying the body of Christ. Touch the cloak, the symbol of closeness, as if Jesus himself were passing by in the flesh”; He is passing by sacramentally.
Patti We’ve got these wonderful solemnities that point out truth, that identify the wonderful mysteries of the Church, and the faith that we are asked to believe. So, how do we apply those in our daily life? How do we look at the Trinity and the relationship that we have with the Father, the Creator; and Jesus, our Savior and brother; and the Spirit, our teacher, our power, the gift giver?
Msgr. David LeSieur You know we have three solemnities here and the middle one is the Body and Blood of Christ, maybe that’s the link among all the mysteries: The presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, coming to us, for the life of the world. We believe that where Jesus is, the Father and the Spirit are, too. And so the Trinity is very definitely present in the Eucharist. We refer to the Trinity in the Mass itself. But I think the Eucharist is so concrete, because we are actually, physically receiving the mystery. The Trinity is very “heavy” so to speak, it is so big, as we said, we can’t get our arms around it, but we can take hold of the Eucharist, because it is physical. And yet it still is a mystery, too deep to fathom, because how could God—Jesus—let himself be bread for us to eat? Eating and drinking is the most basic of human activities and yet he humbly becomes that for us, for the life of the world.
Patti Brunner As we receive our daily bread of the Eucharist, we receive the sacrifice to bond with God, to become one with God.
Msgr. David LeSieur And then you’ve got John the Baptist. John is a good example to all of us, I think, because he prepared the way for Christ
Patti Brunner Yes, I think John is our role model to take these mysteries and evangelize them. He may be the one who prepared the world for Jesus, but he is also preparing usto take Jesus to others. As we accept our role to evangelize—no matter what the consequences—we are accepting a gift; not a natural but a supernatural plan.
Msgr. David LeSieur Yes, and whatever the cost. John believed in Christ, yet he questioned Christ sometimes, too. He struggled with his faith; I guess maybe John can be an example to help us to deal with the fact that Jesus doesn’t always fulfill our expectations.
Patti Brunner If the greatest prophet ever, had to be beheaded because the world would not accept him, then who are we to say “we’re not going to do it” because people may reject us. He is the “primo” evangelizer.
Msgr. David LeSieur Jesus said, “Among those born of women, no one is greater than John[xiii], yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” That is in Luke chapter 7. John is kind of a mystery; he’s the great prophet, yet he is—Jesus says he is very humble.
Patti John must have been a very powerful preacher. Everyone was flocking to him. So that he could point the way to Jesus.
Msgr. David LeSieur Its also interesting that the same John in the Gospel of Luke had a problem, because when he was in jail he sent a delegation saying, go ask him if he’s the one to come or shall we look for someone elsewhere. And also John recognized him in the womb, but now he’s having doubts or second-guesses, maybe because John is in prison. I asked Abbot Jerome[xiv] one time about that very passage. I asked, “What’s going on there?” because he recognized him in the womb. So Abbot Jerome said that John was a little disappointed in Jesus because John is a fiery preacher, you know “the axe is laid to the root” and Jesus is very kind, very patient, loving, and speaks about the love of God and John said “Is this the guy I prepared for?
Patti. Jesus is not always what we expect Jesus to be
Msgr. David LeSieur. Exactly right, even to his prophets .
Patti. Jerusalem’s leaders had a mindset, and John was probably also affected by the mindset of what the savior was supposed to be, even though he had the word of God in him of truth. Plus, John was in jail.
Msgr. David LeSieur. Listen, right here it says in Luke 3, “John said to the crowds who came up to be baptized, ‘you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves “we have Abraham as our father.” You know, Jesus could be pretty straight forward too. But John is “every tree that is not the bearer of good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire!”
Patti Brunner John is a natural leader, speaker, and teacher; with the supernatural plans of God. He was powerful yet he rejects the normal pomp and circumstance of power.
Msgr. David LeSieur “Did you come out to see someone dressed in fine robes?”[xv] Jesus asks. No. “Did you go to see a reed shaken by the wind?” No, he’s not a reed shaken by the wind. And Jesus says, “What did you go out to see?”
Patti John was Spirit-filled through the gift of the Father. His gift points to the gifts received by all who are baptized with the Spirit after the passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. His gift of prophecy, which was also given to Isaiah, Jeremiah and so forth, was the Word of God, come down from heaven, spoken by the Spirit to share the Word of the Father.
Msgr. David LeSieur. On the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, we hear a little bit more of the Old Testament prophets. We hear how the newly called prophet Elisha slaughtered the oxen and burned the plow and followed the great prophet, Elijah, without hesitation.[xvi] We also hear the challenge Jesus gave to those who wanted to “follow” him[xvii]. The Birth of John the Baptist vigil readings give us the call of Jeremiah “before I formed you in your mother’s womb”. Jeremiah was called as a prophet in the womb like John.
Patti Brunner Man is chosen by God to hear his voice, yet persecution and suffering can take place as others reject truth. We’ve got the word of God coming to the particular prophets all through the Old Testament but their road was a difficult one, too. What is so special about John the Baptist is that the word of God in him is illumined by his exposure to Jesus in the womb. John’s gift was magnified, by the Light come into the world, and thus the people were drawn to him as truth came forth with the cloak of the Father’s glory. There is recognition of the Trinity for John that was not there for the other prophets.
Msgr. David LeSieur Well in Luke there was a definitely a recognition. The moment Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting. “The babe leaped for joy in her womb”[xviii]
Patti There’s that dancing!
Msgr. David LeSieur I would love to read a commentary on that verse. All the other prophets prepared the way for the Messiah, but John recognized the presence, even before the presence was born. It was like womb to womb. There’s something about that. “The moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears the infant in my womb leapt for joy” There you go!
Patti. The dancing connection! One of the ways we can grow in these truths is by getting in the presence of God. We can do that with frequent “worthy”[xix] reception of the Eucharist. I speak to the sacramental prep parents about the Eucharist and teach them about the connection of the sacrifice on the Cross with the eternal sacrifice of the Mass, how the Old Testament teaches us to eat the sacrifice to have communion with God, and how the manna in the desert foreshadows the true bread come down from heaven. I always like to give them that brochure that the U.S. Catholic Bishops[xx] put out about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. You can read it on their website. It is written in question and answer form. And it talks about the mystery of the Eucharist but also has practical things like the preparation to receive Jesus so to receive the grace. If you receive the Body and Blood of Jesus without faith or with mortal sin, you don’t get the grace! It also mentions the appropriate signs of reverence and respect towards the Body and Blood of Christ.
Msgr. David LeSieur. The feast is a good time for any parish to talk about the Eucharist, what it means and how we receive it. The hour’s fast before receiving Holy Communion reflects reverence and signifies a hunger we have for Christ. I want to talk about kids having clean hands for Communion! It bothers me when kids have dirty hands and when they have things written all over them. Most churches have a sink and soap available to wash before Mass. I think it is the parent’s responsibility to teach their children to respect the Eucharist by cleanliness, dressing modestly, and to not chew gum in Mass. Chewing gum breaks the fast.
Patti Maybe it’s like if you have some one that comes by your house all the time, you don’t clean-up, and you have a comfort level with them. But yet when you think of the Most High God! If the governor or the president or the Queen of England was coming to your home, what would you do?
Msgr. David LeSieur
You would sure clean up in a hurry!
Patti All of a sudden you would notice things that you didn’t notice before. You say “oh, my gosh, we need to paint.” Or whatever; you wouldn’t leave your trash cans sitting out front, and you’d mow your yard. You prepare by cleaning and beautifying the interior and exteriors of your home.
Msgr. David LeSieur The preparation says something about what you think about that person coming. It says that they are important enough to clean up for. Prepare the way of the Lord.
Patti Brunner. We’re not to get hung up on the exterior. I remember one Easter when my oldest daughter wanted an Easter hat and talked me into buying it for her. When Easter rolled around she changed her mind but I made her wear it. We have these sad pictures from that Easter of her with tears. And how many families with children get so stressed preparing to leave for mass that everyone is screaming in the car on the way? We solved that problem by deciding to get to church thirty minutes early. Now if we run ten minutes late, we are still 20 minutes early. Sunday morning stress is gone. And we spend that extra time on interior preparation. Scripture shows that our exterior “getting ready” can get in the way of our interior preparation. We have the story of Mary and Martha. Martha, she was all in the prep.
Msgr. David LeSieur. That’s right!
Patti Brunner. “Let’s get every thing done, let’s get everything prepared.” And yet she forgot!
Msgr. David LeSieur. The presence of Jesus right there! Yes, and Mary found that better part. And Jesus would not deprive her of it. So yes, there is a balance.
Patti Brunner. The 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time is sandwiched in among these feasts and talks about the importance of the prophets, living by faith, and forgiveness. We have the beautiful image of the perfume in the Alabaster Jar[xxi] being lavished on the feet of Jesus, showing him the utmost of respect. Respecting Jesus, respecting the Eucharist, and “experiencing” the presence of Jesus the way John did—through the Spirit, through family, through the Tradition—it leads us to the “dance” where we can echo the reading from Galatians on the 11th Sunday of Ordinary time, “I no longer live but Christ lives in me.”[xxii]
Msgr. David LeSieur. We can pray to each person of Trinity, we can study scripture and Church teachings; we can travel where others have traveled in faith, remembering the sea shell stories. And we can dance with the Trinity!
Patti. Monsignor, will you close our show with a blessing?
Msgr. David LeSieur [blessing]
Patti: Thank you Monsignor. This concludes our program, Living Seasons of Change, the Season of Solemnities. I’m Patti Brunner and I invite you to visit the website PatriarchMinistries.com for references used in our discussion.
[i] http://www.wf-f.org/CorpusChristi.html Corpus Christi
The Solemnity of Corpus Christi commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist, paralleling Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) commemorating Our Lord’s institution of the Eucharist. Corpus Christ was introduced in the late 13th century to encourage the faithful give special honor to the institution of the Holy Eucharist to the Blessed Sacrament. The official title of this Solemnity was changed in 1970 to The Body and Blood of Christ (Latin: Sollemnitas Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Christi); and it is still on the Roman Missal’s official Calendar for the universal Church on Thursday after Trinity Sunday; however, where it is not a day of obligation (as in the United States) it is usually celebrated on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.
Corpus Christi became a mandatory feast in the Roman Church in 1312. But nearly a century earlier, Saint Juliana of Mont Cornillon, promoted a feast to honor the Blessed Sacrament. From early age Juliana, who became an Augustinian nun in Liége, France, in 1206, had a great veneration for the Blessed Sacrament, and longed for a special feast in its honor. She had a vision of the Church under the appearance of the full moon having one dark spot, which signified the absence of such a solemnity. She made known her ideas to the Bishop of Liége, Robert de Thorete, to the Dominican Hugh who later became cardinal legate in the Netherlands, and to Jacques Panaléon, at the time Archdeacon of Liége and who later became Pope Urban IV. Bishop Robert de Thorete ordered that the feast be celebrated in his diocese.
Pope Urban IV later published the Bull Transiturus (September 8, 1264), in which, after having extolled the love of Our Savior as expressed in the Holy Eucharist, ordered the annual celebration of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. More than four decades later, Pope Clement V published a new decree which embodied Urban IV’s decree and ordered the adoption of the feast at the General Council of Vienna (1311). Pope John XXII, successor of Clement V, urged this observance.
The processions on Corpus Christi to honor the Holy Eucharist were not mentioned in the decrees, but had become a principal feature of the feast’s celebration by the faithfl, and became a tradition throughout Europe. These processions were endowed with indulgences by Popes Martin V and Eugene IV. (Principal source – Catholic Encyclopedia – 1913 edition, )
[ii] Luke 1:5-17 Elizabeth and Zechariah: you shall name him John
[iii] www.britannica.com / Wikipedia. The Church of the Holy Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia, built by Justinian in the 6th century, was the centre of religious life in the Eastern Orthodox world, seat of the orthodox patriarch of constantiople. It was by far the largest and most splendid religious edifice in all of Christendom, converted to a Mosque 1453. In 1935 turned into a museum by Turkish President.
http://www.byzantines.net/epiphany/hagiasophia.htm Hagia Sophia or Holy Wisdom is the mother church of all Eastern Christians of the Byzantine liturgical tradition both Orthodox and Greek Catholic. Early accounts suggest that the site of this, the grandest church in Christendom, in the first millennium had been the site of a pagan temple appropriated for the service of the new religion. The first church on the site was built by the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantius, son of Emperor Constantine, who had liberated the Christian faith from centuries of persecution. Constantius’ church was consecrated in 360 AD. At first it was known as the Great Church because it was the largest at the time. Later it became known as Holy Wisdom, a name attributed to Christ by theologians of the 4th century.
[iv] Proverbs 8:22-31 forerunner, Wisdom AKA Holy Spirit &/or Jesus before creation
[v] Romans 5:5 “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
[vi] http://www.gocanada.org/Catechism/cathholy.htm One Father of the Church, St. Augustine, studied the mystery of the Holy Trinity and although he was at his wits’ end, he still could not comprehend it. One day he was walking on the sandy beach by the ocean. There churned in his mind the mystery of the Holy Trinity. He was talking to himself: “One God, but three Persons. Three Persons–not three Gods but one God. What does it mean? How can it be explained? How can my mind take it in?” And so he was torturing his mind and beating his brains out, when he saw a little boy on the beach. He approached him to see what he was doing.
The child had dug a small hole in the sand. With his little hands he was carrying water from the ocean and was dumping it in the little hole. St. Augustine asked, “What are you doing, my child?” The child replied, “I want to put all of the water of the ocean into this hole.” Once more St. Augustine asked, “But is it possible for all of the water of this great ocean to be contained in this little hole?” And the child asked him in return, “If the water of the ocean cannot be contained in this little hole, then how can the Infinite Trinitarian God be contained in your mind?” And the child disappeared. He was actually a little angel.
St. Augustine learned his lesson. He reverently thanked God, Who taught him in such a miraculous way that the mystery of the Holy Trinity cannot be comprehended with human reasoning. It is a matter of faith rather than of human reasoning. Whoever believes in God lives the mystery of the Holy Trinity and does not require rational proof.
2nd version http://www.munachi.com/a/atrnty.html
The story is told of St Augustine of Hippo, a great philosopher and theologian who wanted so much to understand the doctrine of the Trinity and to be able to explain it logically. One day as he was walking along the sea shore and reflecting on this, he suddenly saw a little child all alone on the shore. The child made a whole in the sand, ran to the sea with a little cup, filled her cup, came and poured it into the hole she had made in the sand. Back and forth she went to the sea, filled her cup and came and poured it into the hole. Augustine went up to her and said, “Little child, what are doing?” and she replied, “I am trying to empty the sea into this hole.” “How do you think,” Augustine asked her, “that you can empty this immense sea into this tiny hole and with this tiny cup?” To which she replied, ” And you, how do you suppose that with this your small head you can comprehend the immensity of God?” With that the child disappeared.
3rd ref http://amywelborn.typepad.com/openbook/2007/04/more_papalia.html
[Pope Benedict XVI] His recognition of Augustine is evident in his new papal coat of arms . A third of its shield is taken up by a shell, with primary significance to a legend about Augustine.
The legend, which comes to us from the Middle Ages in a variety of versions, is that Augustine was walking along the seashore, meditating about the unfathomable mystery of the Holy Trinity. There he met a boy who was using a shell to pour sea water into a hole he had made in the sand. When asked what he was doing, the boy explained, “I am emptying the sea into this hole.” Augustine said that the task was impossible, to which the boy replied that for Augustine to explain the Blessed Trinity was equally impossible. Thus the shell on the coat of arms of the Pope is a symbol for plunging into the unfathomable sea of the Blessed Trinity.
[vii] John 17: 11 And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.
John 17: 20 “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am * they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. 26 I made known to them your name and I will make it known, * that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”
[viii] John 14: 8 Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. 12 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it. 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, 17 the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.
[ix] John 14: 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.
[x] Acts 19: 1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and came (down) to Ephesus where he found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered him, “We have never even heard that there is a holy Spirit.”
3 He said, “How were you baptized?” They replied, “With the baptism of John.” 4 Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul laid (his) hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 Altogether there were about twelve men.
[xi] Romans 10: 17 Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
[xii] Viva Cristo Rey A documentary on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on a Jesuit priest named Fr. Rick Thomas in the cities of El Paso, Texas and Juarez. Several reputable witnesses attested to the multiplication of food, resurrection, healing of a people and a changing of society. Available: http://www.lumen2000.com/twh/catalog.htm
http://www.catholicglobe.org/archive/2004/0804/05/stories/story4.htm The Lord’s Ranch. The ranch was founded by Father Rick Thomas who was moved on Christmas Day of 1972 to bring food to the poor people of Juarez. His inspiration came from Scripture, Luke 14:13, “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.” The priest reported that he and a couple dozen others brought enough food for about 160 people, but in the end they served more than 300 people where they frequently scavenged out a living – at the local dump – with ample for take-home bags and still more for children at two orphanages.
[xiii] Luke 7: 28 I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
[xiv] Abbot Jerome Kodell, O.S.B., of Subiaco Abbey
[xv] Luke 7: 24 When the messengers of John had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. “What did you go out to the desert to see–a reed swayed by the wind? 25 Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine garments? Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously are found in royal palaces. 26 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
[xvi] 1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21 Elisha & Elijah
[xvii] Luke 9:51-62 various responses to “follow me”
[xviii] Luke 1: 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, 42 cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
[xix] 1 Corinthians 11: 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A person should examine himself, and so eat the
bread and drink the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. 31 If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment; 32 but since we are judged by (the) Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
[xx] “The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist” A statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops 800-235-8722 or www.usccb.org ISBN 1-57455-434-4
[xxi] Luke 7:36–8:3 or 7:36-50 Alabaster, wash feet w/tears, sins forgiven
[xxii] Galatians 2:20 “yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.
